Apparatus embodying a liquid applicator



y 2,1 w. R. KOCAY ET AL 2,885,878

APPARATUS EMBODYING A LIQUID APPLICATOR Filed May 11, 1955 INVENTORS. V/TOLD l?- KOCAX ALLi/V O. .MOGi/VfiziN 54% Z KW United States Patent APPARATUS EMBODYING A LIQUID APPLICATOR Witold R. Kocay and Allan 0. Mogensen, Stamford, Conn., assignors to American Cyanamid Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Maine Application May 11, 1955, Serial No. 507,526

3 Claims. (Cl. 68-205) This invention relates to apparatus embodying a device forindicating and measuring the how of a liquid, e.g., water, salt solutions, etc., through an aperture or nozzle; for instance, apparatus adapted for use in continuously treating (e.g., Washing) a moving thread. A specific example of such apparatus is apparatus for treating, and more particularly washing, a wet-spun, gelled thread (including both monofilaments and multifilarnents) of a synthetic material, specifically an acrylonitrile polymerization product.

In certain processes of manufacturing certain synthetic threads or yarns, it is frequently desirable to wash or otherwise treat the freshly spun thread in continuous length. One type of apparatus that has been used for this purpose involves a plurality of, spaced, generally superimposed, thread-advancing reels upon each of which the thread progresses bodily along the length ofthe reel, in a generally helical path, from the point where it is wound thereupon to a discharge point, where it is unwound from the reel and led to thenext reel. A-n arrangement of this kind and the use of the apparatus in the production of viscose rayon is described in, forexample, US. Patent No. 2,225,640. Another type of thread-advancing device that has been employed for the wet treatment or washing of continuous lengths of synthetic yarn comprises a pair of spaced, converging rolls about which the yarn is wound and over which the yarn advances in a helical path from the feed-on end to the take-off end. During the passage of the advancing helices of thread or yarn over the converging rolls, or plurality of converging rolls, the thread is treated with a liquid, for example by means of a jet through which the liquid is sprayed upon the roll and upon the thread advancing thereupon. Such apparatus and processes of treating a thread are described in, for example, Hartmann et al. Patent No. 2,194,470 and Gram Patent No. 2,294,902.

The present invention, although not limited thereto, is particularly concerned with, certain new and useful improvements in apparatus comprising a liquid applicator, especially apparatus of the kind involving the use of a pair of spaced, converging rolls. The applicator, or a plurality of them, can be used advantageously .in combination with the aforementioned converging rolls (together With other auxiliary equipment) in washing a wetspun, gelled thread of an acrylonitrile polymerization product which has been produced as described in Cresswell Patents No. 2,558,730 and No. 2,558,731, in Cresswell and Wizon Patent No. 2,558,733 and in the copending application of Cresswell and Cummings, Serial No. 214,- 616 filed March 8, 1951, now Patent No. 2,777,751, dated Ian. 15, 1957.

The invention disclosed in the aforementioned Cresswell and Cresswell et al. patents involves the precipitation or coagulation of an acrylonitrile polymerization product in approximately its desired shape from a Watercoagulable solution thereof, more particularly a concentrated aqueous salt solution of the kind disclosed by Rein in his Patent No. 2,140,921. The precipitation is effected by contacting the aforesaid solution ofa polymer or copolymer of acrylonitrile with a cold aqueous coagulant,

2,885,878 Patented May 12, 1959 more particularly water alone, at a temperature not substantially exceeding +10 C. This coagulant is a nonsolvent for the acrylonitrile polymerization product but will dissolve the solvent in which the said product is dissolved. As is pointed out in these patents, it was found that by keeping the temperature of the aqueous coagulating bath at or below +10 C., e. g., within the range of 15 C. to +10 C. and preferably at from about 15 C. to about +5 C., the precipitated gels in general are clear or substantially clear, tough, ductile and, in thread or other form, can be stretched to orient the molecules, thereby increasing the cohesiveness, tensile strength, toughness, resilience and otherwise improving the proper.- ties of the finished product.

In Cresswell Patent No. 2,558,731 and also in Cresswell et al. Patent No. 2,558,733 there are described a method and apparatus for washing a wet-spun gelled thread of an acrylonitrile polymerization product, which thread has been produced in the manner above set forth and which is washed with a liquid medium comprising water while the gelled fiber is moving in a helical path over a pair of spaced converging rolls, more particularly by applying Water to the upper roll of a pair of spaced, converging wash rolls.

A specific method of washing a wet-spun, gelled thread of a polymer or copolymer of acrylonitrile, which thread has been produced as described in the aforementioned Cresswell and Cresswell et al. patents, is disclosed and claimed in the copending application of Irvin Wizon, Percival W. Cummings, Jr. and Arthur Cresswell, Serial No. 281,938, filed April 11, 1952, now Patent No. 2,714,052 dated luly 26, 1955. The apparatus disclosed and claimed in the aforesaid Wizon et al. copending application, and which can be used in practicing the method of that invention, involves a particular arrangement of jets, two of which are disposed in a horizontal plane above the upper roll of a pair of spaced, converging rolls of the kind aforementioned; while a third jet is disposed in a horizontal plane above the lower roll of the aforesaid pair of converging rolls and between it and the upper roll.

. The jets disclosed by Wizon et al. are tubular in form,

closed at the terminal end and provided with a series of openings or apertures in the side nearest the surface of theroll and through which the Wash liquid is discharged upon the roll and the thread as the latter advances in a helical path along the surface of the roll when the apparatus is in use.

The liquid applicator and apparatus embodying the same of the present invention are an improvement over the aforesaid jets and apparatus embodying the same which are disclosed in the aforesaid Wizon et al. copending application.

The novel features which are characteristic of our invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, will best be understood by reference to the following more detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing in which Figs. 1 and 2 are side views oftwo diiferent embodiments of the liquid applicator usedin apparatus of the present invention and illustrative thereof; Fig. 3. is a somewhat diagrammatic side elevation of apparatus embodying the present invention and illustrative thereof; and Fig. 4 is an end view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 3.

The liquid applicator constituting an element of appa: ratus of the present invention is characterized by the fact that it comprises a conduit having inlet and exit ends, an apertured delivery section between the said inlet and exit ends, and an open-ended terminal section extending upwardly from the said delivery section. The terminal section is provided with indicia (e.g., a graduated scale.) and has means for, observing the level of liquid. therein when the applicator is in use; for instance, the terminal section (or the liquid applicator in its entirety, if desired) can be formed of a transparent or translucent material, e.g., glass, polymerized methyl methacrylate or other transparent or translucent plastic substance.

The use of a liquid head above an orifice, which is the situation that exists when our liquid applicator is being employed, provides measurement of flow rate of liquid through an orifice in an extremely simple manner and at very low cost. By constructing at least the terminal section of the applicator of transparent or translucent material, visibility is provided without the use of extra or auxiilary equipment.

Previous applications of the principle of using a liquid head in measuring flow through an orifice have involved pipe taps, manometers and similar bulky, expensive and complicated pieces of apparatus. These are obviated by the preferred embodiments of the present invention and wherein a transparent or translucent conduit, specifically a pipe or tubing, having an apertured middle section (e.g., an apertured U-shaped middle section) can function at once as a source of supply of the liquid, as a delivery tube, and as its own flowmeter.

Referring to the drawing there is shown by way of illustration in Fig. 1 one form of a liquid applicator comprising an element of apparatus of the present invention. This applicator comprises a conduit having an inlet end 12, an exit end 14, and an apertured delivery or middle section 16 between the said inlet and exit ends. The middle section 16 may be of any suitable shape, such as in the form of a U, and is provided with an opening or aperture 18 (or a plurality of such apertuires, as desired or as conditions may require) through which the water, liquid textile treating or finishing agent, liquid antistatic composition or other liquid being handled is applied to a desired point. The open-ended terminal section 20 extends upwardly from the apertured delivery section 16. This terminal section is provided with suitable indicia which may take the form of a graduated scale 22. In operation the level of liquid in the standing leg or terminal extension 20 indicates the head that eifects the rate of flow of liquid through the outlet opening or aperture 18. t

The liquid applicator shown in Fig. 1 conveniently may be formed by bending a transparent tube of polymerized methyl methacrylate, polystyrene or other plastic material in the manner shown; that is, downwardly to form the U-shaped delivery or middle section 16 and then upwardly to form the terminal section 22. The orifice or opening 18 (or a plurality thereof) may be made by drilling a hole (or holes) at any desired point, but preferably the orifice 18 is positioned at the lowest point of the delivery section 16 and so that the liquid passing therethrough will be directed upon the material to be treated. The graduated scale 22 is made by notching or otherwise suitably marking the terminal extension 20. This extension is left open as indicated at 14, so as to provide a head for the rate of flow of liquid through the opening 18.

Fig. 2 illustrates another form of liquid applicator that can be used in apparatus of our invention. In this embodiment a pipe in the form of a T conveniently may be used in constructing the applicator, in which case the stem of the T constitutes the first section 24. This section may be threaded as shown at 26 (as also can be done with the corresponding section of the applicator shown in Fig. 1) thereby to aid in joining the applicator to a pipe or other source of supply of liquid to the applicator. One arm 28 of the T can be internally threaded (female screw thread), and into this arm is then screwed the male-threaded pipe 30, the lower open end of which provides the opening or aperture 32. The other arm 34 of the T extends upwardly to form a support for the terminal extension 36. This extension may be formed of a transparent or translucent material such as poly- 4 merized methyl methacrylate or other plastic material of the kind described above with reference to Fig. 1. It is suitably united to the arm 34, for example, by means of an adhesive 38, such as a litharge-glycerine paste; alternatively, the arm 34 can be internally threaded (female screw thread) and the lower end 40 of the terminal extension can be male-threaded so that the extension 36 then can be screwed into the arm 34 to form a union between the terminal section and arm 34. The area be tween the lower end 40 of the extension 36 and the opening or aperture 32 conveniently may be designated as a middle section 42. The graduated scale 44 is made by notching or otherwise suitably marking the terminal extension 36 as described above with reference to the similar scale on the extension 20 of the applicator shown in Fig. 1.

Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate a preferred use of the liquid applicators in the apparatus of the present invention. The preferred thread that is treated is preferably a wetspun thread and is one that has been prepared in the manner described in the aforementioned Cresswell Patents No. 2,558,730 and No. 2,558,731, in Cresswell et al. Patent No. 2,558,733 and in the aforementioned copending application of Cresswell and Cummings. Such a thread is prepared by extruding an aqueous solution of an acrylonitrile polymerization product containing a major proportion by weight of combined acrylonitrile through a shaped orifice into a liquid coagulating bath and which preferably comprises an aqueous solution containing from about 3% to about 20%, more particularly from about 5% to about 15%, by weight, of a watersoluble thiocyanate which yields highly hydrated ions in an aqueous solution. The coagulating bath is maintained at a temperature not exceeding +10 (3., generally slightly below 0 C., and the acrylonitrile polymerization product is dissolved in a concentrated aqueous solution of the same water-soluble thiocyanate which is a component of the aforesaid liquid coagulating bath.

With reference to the accompanying drawing there is shown in Fig. 3 a wetspun, gelled thread 46 of an acrylonitrile polymerization product being led from a coagulating bath (not shown) of the kind briefly described in the foregoing paragraph and more fully in the aforementioned Cresswell and Cummings copending application. The thread is led from a coagulating bath to a suitable thread-storage, thread-advancing device 48. In such a device the thread is caused to move through a helical path having a multiplicity of turns, the axis of which is 1 such a thread-storage, thread-advancing device.

at an angle to the horizontal and in which the thread moves from the feed-on end to the take-01f end of the said path. The device shown in Figs. 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawing represents one suitable form of The device illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 comprises converging, liquid-treating or wash rolls, and more particularly an upper roll 50 and a lower roll 52. These rolls are positively driven by a suitable driving mechanism. They may be driven at the same peripheral speed from a common drive; or, as illustrated in the drawing for purpose of simplicity, individual driving mechanisms 54 and 56 may be provided for driving upper roll 50 and lower roll 52 at the same peripheral speed. Rolls 50 and 52 are suitably spaced from each other, e. g., 4, 6, 8 inches or more, and preferably are suspended in the same vertical plane. They converge slightly toward each other at the delivery or take-off end, which convergency has been somewhat exaggerated for purpose of clarity in the drawing. For example, with rolls 4" in diameter, 13" long and on 7" centers at the back (feed-on end), an angle of convergency of 3 1 at the take-oft end has been used satisfactorily. The rolls may be inclined, if desired, at an angle from the horizontal. Either of these rolls, if desired, may be normal to the horizontal. The diameter and length of the operation, the length of thread being washed, while continuously moving in a helical path, is from about 5 yards to about 40 yards, or even as much as 60 to 80 yards or more.

The rolls 50 and 52 may be made of any suitable material such, for example, as Monel metal, stainless steel, chromium-plated copper, chromium-plated steel, fused quartz, glass, etc. The rolls are preferably formed of a material which is resistant to the corrosive attack of the thiocyanate solution and are provided with a relatively smooth surface. The surface of the roll, however, should not be so highly polished that difficulty is encountered in the spacing of the helices of the thread as it advances over the surfaces of the rolls.

As the gelled thread 46 advances from the feed-on end toward the take-off end of the rolls, a liquid medium, e.g., water, is applied by means of the first liquid applicator 58. This applicator is of the type shown in Fig. 1. It is joined to the delivery tube 60 'by means of the coupling or union 62. This union may be made by threading the ends of the applicator 58 and the delivery tube 60 and then screwing these ends into a threaded coupling such as is indicated at 62. A second liquid applicator 64, similar in construction to the first liquid applicator is positioneed as shown between the upper and lower rolls. This second applicator is joined to the delivery tube 66 by means of the coupling or union 68 as described above with reference to the attachment of the first liquid applicator 58 to the delivery tube 60.

As the gelled thread 46 advances along the rolls a jet of water is applied through the opening 70 of the applicator 58 to the take-oif end of the upper roll 50; and a similar jet of water is applied through the opening 72 of the second liquid applicator 64 to the middle portion of the lower roll 52. The wash liquids applied by means of these applicators as described are collected in the collecting trough 74 which is suitably positioned beneath the lower roll 52.- The effluent which is collected in the trough 74 drains out of the trough through the conduit 76 and thence to storage if the effluent is to be further processed for the recovery of any constituents thereof; or, otherwise, to waste disposal.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 3 there is a first unenclosed liquid applicator 58 positioneed above the upper roll 50 for applying a treating liquid to the take-off end of the said upper roll and to the thread advancing thereon. This applicator comprises a conduit provided with a U- shaped apertured delivery section intermediate the inlet and terminal ends thereof. This delivery section has its first leg of the U leading to the said inlet end and its second leg of the U leading to the said terminal end. This first leg is connected to a horizontal section (including the delivery tube 60) that runs lengthwise above the upper roll 50 toward the feed-on end thereof while the second leg is connected to an open, upwardly extending portion that continues upward for a distance such that the combined length of the said second leg and the length of the said upwardly extending portion is materially greater than that of the said first leg.

The aforementioned upwardly extending portion is provided with indicia and has means for observing the level of liquid therein when the applicator is in use.

As shown in Fig. 3 there is also a second unenclosed liquid applicator 64, which is of the same kind as applicator 58 for applying a treating liquid to the middle portion of lower roll 52. This second applicator is disposed between the said upper and lower rolls, and the apertured delivery section thereof is positioned above the middle portion of the lower roll 52. The first leg of the U of the second applicator is connected to a second horizontal section (including delivery tube 66) that runs lengthwise above the lower roll 52 toward the feed-on end thereof.

In a typical operation of the apparatus shown in Figs. 3 and 4 the desired washing efliciency is secured by treating a polyacrylonitrile thread moving at the rate of about 50 meters per minute over the rolls 50 and 52 with water flowing through the opening 70 of the applicator 58 at the rate of about cc. per minute and through the opening 72 of the applicator 64 at the rate of about 50 cc. per minute. The head of liquid required to be maintained in the terminal extensions of each of the applicators to provide a particular rate of flow of liquid through orifices of a particular size is determined experimentally. By observing this liquid level, and maintaining it at a constant point, uniform treating, specifically washing, of a moving thread is assured.

We claim:

1. Apparatus adapted for use in continuously treating a moving thread comprising a pair of spaced, converging, upper and lower rolls which are suspended in the same vertical plane and which, in operation, are adapted to advance the said thread in a helical path from the rear, feed-on end to the front, take-01f end of the said rolls; a first unenclosed liquid applicator positioned above the upper roll for applying a treating liquid to the take-01f end of the said upper roll and to the thread advancing thereon, said applicator comprising a conduit provided with a U-shaped apertured delivery section intermediate the inlet and terminal ends thereof, said U-shaped section havings it first leg of the U leading to the said inlet end and its second leg of the U leading to the said terminal end, the said first leg being connected to a horizontal section that runs lengthwise above the said upper roll toward the feed-on end thereof and the said second leg being connected to an open, upwardly extending portion that continues upward for a distance such that the combined length of the said second leg and the length of the said upwardly extending portion is materially greater than that of the said first leg, and the said up, wardly extending portion being provided with indicia and having means for observing the level of liquid therein when the applicator is in use; a second unenclosed liquid applicator of the same kind as the said first liquid applicator for applying a treating liquid to the middle portion of the said lower roll, said second applicator being disposed between the said upper and lower rolls and the apertured delivery section thereof being positioned above the middle portion of the said lower roll, the first leg of the U of the second liquid applicator being connected to a second horizontal section that runs lengthwise above the said lower roll toward the feed-on end thereof, and both of the aforesaid first and second liquid applicators permitting the discharge of treating liquid through the apertured delivery section of the individual applicator directly upon the roll above which it is positioned and upon the thread advancing thereon when the apparatus is in use; and a collecting trough suitably positioned beneath the said lower roll for collecting treating liquid flowing off said roll.

2. Apparatus as in claim 1 wherein at least the upwardly extending portion of the conduit of each of the first and second unenclosed applicators is formed of a material through which the liquid therein can be observed when the apparatus is in use.

3. Apparatus as in claim 1 wherein the conduit of each of the first and second unenclosed applicators is formed of a transparent material.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 187,623 Hambleton Feb. 20, 1877 2,416,535 Naumann Feb. 25, 1947 2,479,786 Stevens Aug. 23, 1949 2,608,850 Fry Sept. 2, 1952 2,714,052 Wizon et al. July 26, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 398,490 Great Britain Sept. 7, 1933 

